Late Friday, word came out that we would see a PA Senate committee vote on PA HB 934, a Voter ID bill and a full Senate vote is possible later this week. Like many states across the country where Republicans won control in 2010, the PA GOP has been moving lock step ahead with an agenda designed to harm he re-election of Barrack Obama, and promote a radical social activist agenda that targets women and minorities. That party which, with Tea Party support,l claimed to be all about jobs has done absolutely nothing on Jobs, but they certainly have been busy on their real agenda.

HB 934 sounds, on the surface like to would be a good thing, because it masquerades as a anti-fraud effort, but when you get underneath the facade, it is a very expensive effort to fix a problem that doesn’t exist. Voter fraud is a non-issue if you look at the facts. In fact the evidence used by proponents of the bill to justify this effort turns out to be all fallacy. It is pretty bad when our elected officials cite urban legends as if they really happened as the reason to spend millions of dollars. And Elvis is alive, living in Punxatawny. Right.

The real value of HB 934 is that it will make it harder for many Pennsylvanians to vote, and the groups targeted by the bill most often vote Democrat. Thus, voter suppression. However, everyone who cares about fair and honest elections should be opposed to the way this bill is being handled. Here we are in Pennsylvania, no district lines in place, and the GOP pushing for legislation that the State won’t be able to properly implement in time for the election. No matter how you vote ( Democrat or Republican) this should matter to you. If the state mandates something that it can’t actually implement properly, you are affected- your access to a free and fair election is harmed.

In every other state where a similar bill has been passed, the actual costs have been much higher than the projected costs. As Pennsylvanians, why would we support an expensive government program that isn’t needed and harms out ability to participate in a fair election? In addition to the actual costs, many constituents will have to pay much money to be able to have a valid ID or they will not be able to vote, and after the election, the State can look forward to costly legal battles as disenfranchised voters sue the State. Is this the way we want our Pennsylvanian dollars used?